The Whole Story...

I suppose a blog post is very much in order today.  If you follow Terrance or I on facebook then you already know that we brought our sweet baby boy home today. What everyone is wondering is "how?"!!! Believe me, we are still in shock! Let me start from the beginning.

On Thursday (April 27) I recieved an email from the social worker who completed our home study. A local young woman had contacted her about giving her baby up for adoption. She was due to have her baby on May 21st. Our social worker, Joanne, wanted to know if we would possibly be interested in this situation. We prayed about it and then replied yes. We knew it would be a very different process than what we were expecting as it would be completely outside of our agency.

On Friday morning (April 28) I randomly checked my email as I was getting Lucas and myself ready to go to MOPS. I was shocked to find another email from Joanne. She was letting me know that the birth mother had gone into labor early that morning and had given birth to a healthy baby boy. She also wanted to know if we were still interested. I called Terrance at work and after we both got over the initial shock we agreed that, yes, we were beyond interested. We felt that this was a gift from the Lord! I called Joanne to talk about the details. She filled me in on the details quickly. I found out that he was 6 lbs, 11 oz, 19 1/2 inches long, and totally healthy. She also told me that the birth mother was meeting with a family that morning but that she very much wanted to meet with us as well. We set up a time to go out there with Joanne that evening.

That evening we went up to the hospital with Joanne and met the birth mother and this sweet baby boy. The moment we laid eyes on him Terrance and I were gonners. As we were sitting and visiting with the birth mom (and getting some cuddles in with baby boy), she decided that she wanted us to be his adoptive parents. We were thrilled and so amazed. She did ask that she have all day Saturday while they were still in the hospital to have with baby boy to have some closure and say her goodbyes.

Saturday (April 28)  was pure torture. We waited and prayed and waited and prayed. We knew that this day was critical. The birth mom could change her mind at any time and we weren't sure if we should prepare for the arrival of this sweet baby or not. We truly prayed that the Lord's will be done in this sweet baby's life. We prayed that he go wherever he was meant to go. Whether that be with us or his biological mother. Terrance, Lucas and I tried to keep ourselves distracted but it was so hard! Thankfully we had amazing friends and family who were praying us up and encouraging us constantly. It was such a help to get through the longest day!

This morning (April 29) we got a call at 7:30 am from the birth mom. She was going to be released from the hospital in about an hour and a half and was ready for us to come get baby boy. I don't think I have ever been more excited to get a phone call! I won't lie, Lucas and I may have done a little dance! Lucas went over to a friends house and Terrance and I headed for the hospital. We got there and had to wait for little man to be discharged, but when the time came his birth mom was so incredibly strong. I am still amazed at how lovingly she said her goodbyes. I thanked her from the bottom of my heart and we both held back tears.

I still can't belive that we have sweet baby boy Grayson in our arms here at home. Four days ago the idea that I would be bring a baby home today would have seem absolutely insane to me!  I know that our road isn't over though. His momma could still change her mind. Terrance and I are continually praying for God's will and grace over this situation. Since all of this happened over the weekend we were unable to do a lot legally. We and the birth mom will have to go to court this week for her to offically sign over her rights. After that she will have 10 days to change her mind. While we love Grayson with everything we have already we know that his sweet little life may not be meant to be with us. I hope and pray with all my heart that he is meant to stay with us until he is grown, but I know that there is One much wiser than I who knows from beginning to end what Grayson's story is.

Thank you for all of your love and support. We have been touched by so many people through this journey. Your prayers have meant so much to us, and we covet them even more now. Please pray for our family, baby Grayson, and his sweet birth mom.

With Love,
Mandy (and Terrance and Lucas too!)

Garage Sale Recap

We had such blast at the garage sale two weekends ago. It was such a blessing to have friends come out and help us put it together. To be honest, Terrance and I were shocked by the out pooring of volunteers and by the amount of money we were able to raise. Our goal for the entire sale was to make $1000 total. We were able to make $1804.20! God is so good! He absolutely blew our expectations out of the water.

Friday was the busy day for sure. We made $1200 that day and most of it in the very first hours of the sale. We had shoppers show up before the sale had even offically started. A couple of ladies were shopping our of the garage as we unloaded. Luckily I had the majority of my volunteers on Friday. God knew I would need them! It was mass chaos for sure. I am so grateful for the group of friends that came and sorted through the piles and piles of stuff! Saturday was slower but still profitable. By the time the sale was all through, Terrance and I were EXHAUSTED!!! And thrilled of course! We could not have asked for a better weekend!

I am not the best photographer on the planet. I usually just forget that my camera is in my bag and then kick myself  later for not taking any photos. I did manage to take some photos at the garage sale, mostly of the first day, so I thought I would share them with you today.

The garage half emptied! We started unloading at about 7 am on Friday. Needless to say, we had a lot of stuff!

The awesome sign my friend Jenny made!

Still unloading the garage

A flattering (not) photo of me manning the cash register. And, yes we did use Lucas' toy register. :)

Terrance wasn't able to be at the sale much of Friday since he was unable to take the day off of work. He did manage to stop by at lunch to "supervise" the cupcake stand. ;)

Shopping!

My sweet friend Lauren set up a cupcake and lemonade stand. I must say that her cupcakes were a hit!

This is a photo of the sale midday on Friday. Believe it or not A LOT of stuff was gone by then.

My friends Ali and Tara helping us get ready for day 2!

Lucas had a blast testing out all the toys before they sold

Sweet friends Lauren and Brittany sorting out all the clothes for round number 2!

I must give a quick shout out to everyone who donated, volunteered, shopped and prayed. Our family is so incredibly blessed by you! This was all made possible because of your giving hearts. THANK YOU!!!

Love,
Mandy

Ready to Roll!

I suppose it is about time I update! Life has been quite full these past few weeks. Terrance and I feel like we are on a roller coaster lately. We have truly been learning to fully trust in the Lord on a daily basis. We are in the middle of the waiting, wondering, hoping, and wishing phase. I don't think we realized how hard it would be to just sit and wait. We just keep praying for patience and endurance during this time of waiting.

 We are just a few days away from the garage sale and we are so excited to get it going bright and early Friday morning. We have been so blessed by the donations we have received. This sale wouldn't be possible without those!  My wonderful friend Jenny also designed a flyer (below) for us. I have been posting this everywhere. Please pray for a big turn out and great weather! We are ready to see what God is going to do this weekend!

Unfortunately we are having to cancel the bake sale at Rivers and Spires. Because of where the Clarksville Family Adoption Group's booth is located at the festival they are not allowed to collect money at all. We are still beyond grateful that they would even consider supporting our family and we know that God will provide in another way.

I am very much looking forward to updating the blog next week to share with you all the results of the garage sale. Be looking out for that next post!!!

Time for an update

Things have been crazy around here! A good kind of crazy though. We signed with our adoption agency and we put together a book all about our family. This book will be what birth mothers will look at when considering us as a potential family for their child. It is a very exciting feeling to be moving forward in this process. God has been so good and faithful to us during this journey. It's been a wonderful experience for our whole family so far!

We are really gearing up for our garage sale. We have been gathering donations like crazy. Terrance and I have been so blessed by the generosity we have experienced! Our garage is looking like something straight from a hoarders show but we could not be more thrilled. Check out this photo of our garage I took today. I think Terrance and I need to do some organizing this weekend!

Truthfully, it is impossible for us to have too many donations. The bigger our yard sale is the better. We are praying for great weather and lots of shoppers that day! We could still use more volunteers to help at the sale. Please let me know if you are interested in coming to help out (plus breakfast and coffee will be provided for those early morning helpers). And kids are invited to come hang out too.

Terrance and I were super shocked when we got an email from a sweet gal, Jamie, that we met at the Ramsey family's adoption fundraiser. Jamie has recently started up an adoption group here in Clarksville. It's goal is to provide information for those considering adoption and support for families who have adopted. Anyway, she emailed me to let us know that she was able to get a booth at the Rivers and Spires festival coming up in April. And get this, she wants to do a fundraiser for our family!!! How amazing is that?  If you are not familiar with Rivers and Spires it is a huge, free festival in downtown Clarksville. There are lots of family friendly activities and events. It's a lot of fun! The plan for the fundraiser at Rivers and Spires is to have a bake sale. All the proceeds made from this bake sale at the Clarksville Family Adoption Group's booth will go to support our adoption. Since Rivers and Spires is such a big event (over 3,000 people are expected this year) a ton of baked goods are going to be needed. If you have any interest in baking up some individually wrapped snacks or goodies for this event please let me know.

Like I said earlier, God has been so good to us. He has worked out so many details for us. It's amazing to me how much has come together so quickly. One more amazingly, wonderful thing the Lord has done: We met with a lawyer last week that was at the Ramsey's fundraiser. She has offered her services to us for free. Yes, FREE! We will be able to finalize the adoption in Tennessee and only pay the court fees. This has helped cut back on some of our expenses. Isn't God great?!?! We are on our way to being fully funded. I am excited to see what's around the next corner. Thank you for keeping us in your prayers.

-Mandy

Garage Sale Fundraiser

We’re having a garage sale!  On Friday, April 13 and Saturday, April 14 we will be firmly planted in our driveway and would love if you would join us! And of course, all proceeds from the sale will go to benefit the adoption.  We have already been steadily receiving donations (a big thank you shout out to all our wonderful donors!!!) and would love to help you get rid of some of your stuff, too.  So, if you have anything we are completely willing to take it off your hands.  Interested in volunteering your time?  We are also going to need help in other areas.

·         We need people to help set-up, tear-down, and work the sale. 

·         We will also be holding a bake sale in conjunction with our garage sale and will of course need baked goods. 

·         We will need tables, tables and more tables. If you have a one, two, or a few you could spare for a weekend we could use them!

·         Donations, donations, donations!!! I know we said it once, but we will say it again! We are filling up our garage and will be happy to take your stuff off your hands! J

If you would like to volunteer or donate you can email us at avery87@gmail.com or just leave a comment.

Terrance and Mandy

Tenfold

Hey everyone! Terrance here, just wanted to give you an update on the adoption.
We've had a few pretty big things happen for us over the last couple of weeks.  First, we found out this week that we have been accepted by a wonderful agency. We are one step closer in this long journey, praise the Lord!

Now for a ridiculously incredible story... 
On Valentines Day, Mandy and I went to a benefit dinner for a family here in Clarksville, the Ramsey's, who are adopting from Ethiopia (you can read about them here ).  The tickets to the dinner were $50 per person.  Why would we pay $100 to help someone out when we're trying to fund an adoption?? Well, we truly feel that if we believe we are called to adopt and want people to support us, then we should also support those in our situation.  During the dinner, another family shared their adoption experience (Jeremy and Kelly Bullock...wonderful people) and the Ramsey's also spoke about what brought them to their decision to adopt.  After their presentation, the MC started talking about a young couple who was just starting the whole adoption process.  The Ramsey's wanted to give them a bit of financial support, even though the whole point of the evening was for the Ramsey's to fund their own adoption.  The Ramsey's gave this young family $1,000 to aid in their adoption.  And wouldn't ya know it, that young family was US!!  We were completely taken by surprise!  It was a pretty amazing lesson in faithfulness. Kelly Bullock pointed out that the Lord blessed us tenfold!  We are beyond thankful to the Ramsey's are excited to see what else will amaze us during this whole process.

We still have a long way to go before we meet our overall fundraising goal.  Mandy and I feel that we are supposed to do this thing debt-free so we will need all the help and support we can get.  It sounds ridiculous, but if nothing else, we've learned to rely on the Lord for provision.  With that being said, if you have any spectacular fundraising ideas, feel free to pass that information along.  We have a few things coming up (mainly our garage sale this spring) and can't tell you how much appreciate all the support and prayer we've already received.

-Terrance

A Great Week

What a wonderful week it was in the Avery home. Our  home study was completed on Wednesday! Hallelujah!!!!! It was the perfect 25th birthday present for my birthday on Thursday.  I can hardly begin to count my blessings from the past year and I can only imagine what God has in store for year 25.

We also were able to set up a new fundraiser for the adoption this week. It is www.justlovecoffee.com/averyfamilyadoption. This amazing coffee company was founded by a couple who adopted and wanted to create a way to ease the financial burden on adoptive families and make a difference in the villages where this coffee is produced. With every purchase from the link above, a portion goes to our adoption and back into the villages for clean drinking water. How cool is that? Below is a video explaining a little more of what they are all about.

Thank you all the love and support we have received so far. We are truly blessed beyond measure!

Love, Mandy



The Heart of Coffee from Just Love Coffee Roasters on Vimeo.

A Little Birthday Fun!

In honor of my 25th birthday I am offering up the coupon code HAPPY25 for 25% off my etsy shop. This will be available for 24 hours, so hurry!!! This is good for custom orders too. Don't forget that all proceeds go to fund our adoption!

www.etsy.com/shop/averydesignboutique

Here we go...

Welcome to the Avery family blog!!!  We are so excited to get this blog started and to share some really exciting news with everyone.  WE ARE ADOPTING!!!!!  Yes, you heard right.  ADOPTING!  Let me start from the beginning. A few months ago both Terrance and I felt that God had laid it on our hearts to look into the adoption process.  We started researching and we soon found that the God was making it abundantly clear to us that adoption wasn’t just something to look into for some time in the future. We felt that He was urging us to move forward with the process NOW.

                Fast forward two months and here we are. Terrance and I are totally in awe of how quickly this process has come together for us. Lucas is beyond excited to have a new baby brother or sister as well! We are currently in the home study process and are praying over which adoption agency or facilitator to use.  We truthfully thought the beginning steps would take much longer, but God has been faithful in opening doors for us (and closing them when necessary).  The biggest obstacle we thought we would face was finding an agency or facilitator that would be willing to work with a military family, as many are wary of the deployment schedule for the majority of military families.  We have been so blessed to be in contact with several facilitators and agencies that are more than willing to work with us.  As of right now one has stood out from the rest, but we have chosen to wait until the home study is finished to officially choose who we will work with.  Since we legally cannot move forward with an adoption until the home study is done, we feel that it is the perfect opportunity to pray over our choices before decision time.

                Outside of choosing an agency or facilitator, perhaps one of the most important (and potentially our biggest obstacle) is to obtain the funds we will need to make all this happen.  We are trusting God to provide for our every need and have already been so amazed and blessed with how things have been working out for us.  There are numerous non-profit agencies out there that give grants to adopting parents, and we plan to apply for as many of those as possible.  I have been busy making hair clips and headbands for my Esty shop (www.etsy.com/shop/averydesignboutique).  My mom has also donating her time and talents to the shop by making some jewelry and crocheted items for us to sell.  There is also a link at the top right of this page that you can use to donate directly to the cause if you feel led to do so. We understand that not everyone is called to give financially, but we do feel like we can ask all those near and dear to us to pray.  If you’re here and reading this and will keep us in your prayers it would mean a tremendous amount to both Terrance and myself.  We truly believe God will provide if we remain faithful and diligent throughout this process. 

                 We cannot express to you enough how excited we are to be sharing this journey with you all. We know that God has some very amazing things in store for our family in 2012 and we can’t wait to share it!

Love,

Mandy